date: 12/16/04
location: st. paul
grade: a-/b+

usually it's every third tuesday for this kind of thing, but this was postponed due to illness. i was the one that picked this place to go to the day before my birthday, then came down with inner ear infections in both ears. so delayed gratification time on this one.

and now on to the regularly scheduled portion of our show.

it does feel a lot like a bistro in france, for good and bad. good in that is has that comfort factor of a neighborhood place that's cozy and warm and you feel ok if you're in jeans or dressed up a bit, a place where you can relax over your dinner, have a nice meal in plesant surroundings. bad in that it's a bit on the cramped side (our table for 5 could hold 5 people, but add the plates and there was a lot of adjusting to do to have everyone's dishes remain on the table), and you have to somewhat authentically leave your nice dimly lit, cozy restaurant and troop down the brightly lit hall to get to the restroom (a public one) should you feel the need to... 'freshen up.' some of the time it has an authentically french person, attitude-wise, manning the phone lines and desk, which can lead to a brusque experience.

a few of us got to the restaurant early for our 6:30 reservation, and were seated right away. i started with a kir royale (very nice), and bread and butter was brought to the table. bakery on grand's owners also own this place, so it was very good bread. i think that everyone at the table went through tons of the stuff. we were offered a choice between the italian sparking water and st. paul's vintage tap water. we opted for the vintage tap.

since i really want to kill myself with cholesterol, it was foie gras for me. pardon me while i fondly reminisce for a moment here...

anyway, loved it. it came with some figs, a lovely sauce, and a few things that i didn't memorize off the menu and couldn't quite identify when the plate got there, something creamy and potato-like (could've been potatoes, for all know, but that seems odd)and some crunchy noodle things... whatever the creamy things were worked. the crunchy didn't really do anything for me. (hey, i'm not a professional critic, nor do i play one on tv... i do the best with what my memory allows.) everyone enjoyed their taste. the spinach salad was pretty good according to the consumers of it, and the oysters with bloody mary granita were all that.

since i had duck (quack) yesterday and didn't want fish, i didn't get anything off the main bit of the menu, i opted for the mussels for the main course (mussels, how very bistro-y). i will say the menu wasn't very vegetarian-friendly, having no main course options that i recall for those who are the real kind of vegetarians (i.e. non-fish eating). the mussels were large, and i enjoyed using the specialize fork to consume the suckers, but then again i am easily amused. they were pretty good. the broth was a bit on the odd side to me... it was too... i want to say citrusy or something, for my liking. evey sopped up with the bread.

i sampled the risotto that came with someone's tenderloin (i think it was the tenderloin)... it was ok. the char was pretty good, and the duck was better than tejas, but not quite as perfect as vincent's.

dessert-time, the choclate goo cake (so called, it had a more official name on the menu, and had orange flavorings beside which were requested to not accopany the cake) was lovely, and came with a really nice coconut ice cream. bread pudding was not quite as nice, but still ranks highly. i didn't sample the apple tart, but did have some of the nice brie de mieux that was nice and meltly on top of it.

myself, i split a cheese plate (see previous comment on cholesterol... if you're gonna go, go happy...). asiette of cheese, it was called. why not go all the way with french and call it an asiette du fromage i know not. it was supposed to come with four cheeses, according to the server, but one wasn't on the plate. apparently they had run out. i would've liked to know that beforehand. apparently not a lot of people go for the cheese plate... who knows. anyway, it was a chevre rolled in oats, brie of some sort, and a blue cheese. came with nuts, pear slices, and yes, more bread. it was nice, but nothing really jumped out at me as being lovely.

otherwise service was nice, in a friendly relaxed way. and they do ask, due to proximity, if you are going to the theater that evening, so they can time service so you can get there. water refills were timely and such. the decor was indeed very bistro, light walls, wood accents, a bit echo-y, though not as loud as i thought it may be from other reports of the place. it was nicely filled for a thursday, too, both before the theater started, and shortly thereafter. i will say it was generally thought that the prices may be a bit on the high side of things, but not entirely off. (the cheese plate seems a bit out of line, at twice the cost of other desserts.)

i would like to try the breakfast there, i've heard from others it's a sight to behold. if i have to eat somewhere in downtown st. paul and was in the mood for something that would probably be less of the hockey crowd that a lot of the other places in the area (when the hockey season is not delayed) or felt the need to revisit my trips to france, i would stop by again for dinner.